


The Start of Forever

by martincrieff



Category: Free!
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, MakoHaru in Tokyo, Marriage Proposal, slight mention of anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27503839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martincrieff/pseuds/martincrieff
Summary: Makoto plans to propose to Haruka. Haruka has conflicting plans.Title from Paramore's Still Into You
Relationships: Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	The Start of Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Bad summary is bad D:  
> This was prompted by a tumblr ask, and it was just supposed to be a headcanon. Am not a writer but these two make me wish i was!! i wanna write them some more! Hope this isn't too awful!  
> Also I can only apologise for my excessive use of the oxford comma and question marks, it is a real problem.

Makoto has been thinking of many different ways of proposing to Haru. He's struggling to translate the love he feels for his best friend into one single date night that may lead to their forever. A romantic day at the aquarium, followed by dinner at Haru’s favourite restaurant, maybe? Or he could take Haru to the ocean for a picnic, grilled mackerel and all? Perhaps he should wait until they’re back in Iwatobi for the holidays, so he can propose on their staircase, the one that connected their lives for all those years. He has too many thoughts that won’t coherently form into an idea and magically manifest as the perfect solution. How is one night supposed to portray the years of love and devotion they have shared? Makoto can rarely find the words to express the feeling that blooms within him by simply looking at Haru, a warmth that is unparalleled to the sun on the beach, a calm unrivalled to the waves of the water. So how does he express that with just a date and a ring?

He’s pondering this dilemma on the sofa in their shared apartment in Tokyo, making notes for all the pros and cons for each plan, whilst Haru sits on the floor besides his feet sketching a cat in his art book. Makoto wants the night to be absolutely perfect and unforgettable. Nothing less will do for his Haru, nothing less will do justice to what Haru means to him. Their anniversary is coming up, he ponders, he should do it then, right? It makes sense, it’s a special day so a proposal should be saved for that, right? He taps his pen against his notebook anxiously as his own indecisiveness starts to stress him out, and casually glances down at Haru, as he so often does when he just needs to calm down a bit.

And that’s when he's hit with a sudden realisation. It doesn't have to be on a specific day. It doesn’t have to be a meticulously planned date or even a place that holds fond memories for them. They don’t need external factors, venues, food, anything that has the potential to not go as planned, not go perfectly, and stress Makoto out for ruining their special moment. All they need, all they've ever needed, is each other. The very act of proposing to Haru, the fact that they will be engaged is perfect. The place and the time absolutely do not matter, when by the end he will be able to spend the rest of his life with his soulmate. That alone will be perfect.

With a decisive determination, he puts down his notebook, and heads over to the kitchen to fetch the ring box from it’s secret hiding place he knew Haru would never accidentally come across - the sweets jar in the cupboard. He returns to the sofa and lowers himself to sit with Haru, and his friend looks up from his sketch, which has evolved from just a cat to Makoto holding the cat. Looking into the depths of those blue eyes has always given Makoto strength, always made him believe that he could achieve whatever he set his mind to. Those eyes made his every anxiety melt away and leave behind nothing but a sense of security, the feeling of being loved unconditionally by the very person who means the world to you. His eyes crinkling into a soft smile he reserves solely for his Haru, Makoto reaches for his hands, and simply tells him he loves him so much. _So much._ And all he wants is to spend the rest of his life loving him. With that he places the open ring box in Haru’s hand.

Haru looks at the box with wide eyes, and lifts his gaze back up to Makoto, and for a moment, just a _millisecond_ , Makoto’s whole being is clouded with doubt. Because a sigh had escaped Haru, and he’s looking at Makoto with slight resigned disappointment, as if to say “are you kidding me?” The expression would be unreadable by anyone not a world expert in the art of Understanding Nanase Haruka, but to Makoto it is unmistakably there and definitely not the expression he envisioned on Haru’s beautiful face when he imagined proposing.

So when Haru just closes his eyes, stands up and heads to towards their bedroom without the ring, he can’t help the slight panic rising in him. Now, Makoto has spent a lot of time, so many years, becoming comfortable and confident in his own actions and feelings. He’s spent years acknowledging and accepting that Haru loves him unconditionally, and that he _never_ has to doubt or fight for those feelings. But in that infinitely long moment - which in reality could only be a mere few seconds - that Haru spends in their shared room, where Makoto can’t see his best friend, he cannot help his own insecurities and anxieties flooding back.

He tries to calm himself quickly as Haru returns, because he knows, _he knows_ in his bones and his soul that Haru loves him just as much as he loves Haru, there is absolutely no need to panic, just _calm down, idiot!_

Seeing Haru emerge from the bedroom, Makoto can feel his very presence replacing his anxieties with the knowledge that everything will be okay. As Haru settles himself back next to his best friend right where he belongs, he simply does the same thing Makoto did a moment ago, and places an open ring box in Makoto’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Haru would probbly scold him like "I had a whole day planned and you ruined it!" and when Makoto apologises through his tears and laughter, Haru would just be like "actually, this was much better" 
> 
> if, like me, u too have makoharu brain rot, pls come cry with me on tumblr about them @makoandharu :)


End file.
